Welcome back to Part Two of my S5E24 @schoolutionspodcast conversation with Melanie Meehan and Maggie Beattie Roberts, where we explore how understanding the brain's role can inform "how to write" instruction. This discussion makes practical connections between neuroscience and effective teaching strategies, ensuring educators can apply cognitive science principles to foster better writers. This is all about actionable education insights for every classroom.

And this isn't just theory. Maggie and Melanie break down the minute moves that unlock possibilities, the progression charts that guide your next teaching step, and how explaining brain science to students transforms their relationship with writing.

Discover why you can do transformative work in just a few minutes, how to make writing equitable for all learners, and what to do with that writer slumped over their desk, gripping a pencil in their fist. Most importantly: Writing is thinking. At this critical juncture, with AI offering to do that cognitive work for our students, we cannot let go of teaching this essential skill.

What You'll Learn:
✅ How to navigate a research-heavy book when you're overwhelmed
✅ The "minute moves" that create a big impact in just minutes
✅ Why explaining brain science to students changes everything
✅ How one seventh grader went from writing-averse to engaged
✅ Making writing accessible and equitable for all learners
✅ Practical strategies for any curriculum or writing program

💫Check out Part One

📚 Pre-order Foundational Skills for Writing now—releases February 24th!🎯 Start with the chapter that speaks to YOUR most puzzling writer.

Chapters
0:00 - Introduction: Making Research Practical
1:00 - Welcome Back: From Theory to Practice
2:00 - Addressing the "This Sounds Dense" Concern
4:00 - How to Navigate the Book's Architecture
6:00 - Using Foundational Skills with Any Curriculum
7:00 - The Bigger Vision: Equity and Access
9:00 - Speaking Brain Language with Students
10:00 - The Seventh Grader Who Became a Braver Writer
13:00 - Minute Moves: Big Impact in Small Time
15:00 - Writing is Thinking: The AI Imperative
16:00 - Final Thoughts and Pre-Order Information
17:00 - Next Week: Dr. Courtney Bishop on Neurodivergence
18:00 - Closing and Subscribe

Join our community of educators committed to cultivating student success, inspired teaching, and creating inclusive classrooms with a pro-kid mindset focused on the whole child.

🎧 New episodes every Monday & Friday with bite-sized Wednesday reel bonus content.
📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

Don't forget to🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators!

Next Week: Next week, Dr. Courtney Bishop takes us deeper into the brain with her journey as a neurodivergent mom and educator. She'll reveal why traditional behavior management fails our kids and how her conscious coaching framework helps adults pause, shift their narratives, and create genuine connection—because here's the truth: children can't reach their learning brain until we regulate our own.

When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Maggie Beattie Roberts highlights brain-based, whole-child teaching at its most practical. It's exactly the kind of insight that transforms how teachers approach lesson planning, student engagement, and instructional strategies for learners who seem "stuck."

What if the reason your students struggle with writing has nothing to do with effort — and everything to do with how their brain is wired? In this clip, we break down the three core executive functions that make or break a student's writing experience: working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control.

Think of executive functions like the stagehands of a Broadway production. Nobody sees them — but without them, the whole show falls apart. When we understand and support these behind-the-scenes cognitive processes, we give students the neurological foundation they need to actually *do* the work a writing curriculum demands.

🧠 In this video, you'll learn:
➡️What executive functions are and why they matter for writing
➡️The 3 categories every educator needs to know: working memory, cognitive flexibility & inhibitory control
➡️Why low engagement or avoidance in writing may be an executive function issue — not a behavior issue
➡️How supporting executive functions builds student success from the ground up
➡️What this means for inclusive teaching, instructional coaching, and classroom practice

Whether you're a classroom teacher, instructional coach, school counselor, or school leader, understanding executive functions is one of the most powerful tools you can add to your practice.

👇 Drop a comment: Which executive function do you see students struggle with most in your classroom?

🚀📚 Watch Part One & Part Two of our ⁨@schoolutionspodcast S5E24 interview.

Chapters
0:00 - Introduction: Why Students Struggle with Writing
0:08 - The Three Categories of Executive Functions
0:20 - The Stagehand Analogy: Executive Functions Explained
0:38 - What Happens When Executive Functions Break Down
0:52 - Supporting Executive Functions to Build Writing Skills
1:05 - Engaging the Cognitive Motors for Writing Success

📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

Don't forget to 🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators!

#ExecutiveFunctions #WorkingMemory #CognitiveFlexibility #InhibitoryControl #WritingInstruction #BrainBasedLearning #StudentEngagement #StudentSuccess #WholeChild #ProKidMindset #InclusiveTeaching #EffectiveTeaching #InstructionalCoaching #TeacherCoaching #ClassroomBelonging #EquityInEducation #InspiringStudents #ThrivingStudents #EmpoweredEducators #SchoolCulture #ActiveLearning #TeachingTips #InnovativeTeaching #ProfessionalDevelopment #InstructionalLeadership #SchoolImprovement #EducationTransformation #TeacherImpact #NewTeachers #MentorTeachers #schoolutions #schoolutionsteachingstrategies #schoolutionspodcast #forevergettingbetter

When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Melanie Meehan shares a practical strategy for teaching spelling that focuses on understanding the brain's role in the process. Learn how to teach spelling by incorporating brain diagrams, a method successfully used with a seventh grader who struggled with writing. Melanie's teaching tips aim to improve student comprehension and confidence in their education journey.

What happens when a struggling 7th-grade writer finally understands why spelling is hard and how his brain can change? Something powerful shifts when educators take time to explain the why behind learning, showing students brain diagrams, teaching spelling patterns, and giving learners the language to understand their own thinking.

Whether you're a classroom teacher, instructional coach, mentor teacher, or school leader, this moment captures the heart of inclusive, equity-driven education: meeting every student where they are and helping them understand themselves as learners.

🧠 Topics covered in this video:
➡️Using metacognition to unlock student potential
➡️Brain-based spelling instruction and morphology
➡️Supporting students with low engagement or learning struggles
➡️How teacher coaching transforms classroom practice
➡️Culturally responsive and pro-kid teaching in action

🚀📚 Watch Part One & Part Two of our ⁨⁨@schoolutionspodcast⁩ S5E24 interview.

📑 Chapters
0:00 - Introduction: A 7th Grader's Writing Journey
0:12 - Using the Spelling Chapter & Teaching Protocols
0:28 - Explaining the Brain Diagram to the Student
0:44 - Teaching Morphology & Spelling Patterns
0:58 - The Power of Metacognition in Spelling Instruction
1:10 - Why This Approach Was a Game Changer

📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

Don't forget to🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators!

#InstructionalCoaching #TeacherCoaching #EffectiveTeaching #StudentSuccess #ClassroomBelonging #MetaCognition #SpellingInstruction #Morphology #InclusiveTeaching #EquityInEducation #ProKidMindset #WholeChild #SchoolImprovement #EducationLeadership #TeachingTips #NewTeachers #MentorTeachers #EmpoweredEducators #SchoolCulture #ActiveLearning #StudentEngagement #InspiringStudents #EducationTransformation #TeacherImpact #CulturallyResponsiveTeaching #BrainBasedLearning #ProfessionalDevelopment #InstructionalLeadership #InnovativeTeaching #thrivingstudents #schoolutions #schoolutionsteachingstrategies #schoolutionspodcast #forevergettingbetter

When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.